Alexander Hall- District 5 Male- 18
"And she said because Snow had some heart troubles!" Everyone busted into fits of raucous laughter and uncontrollable muscle spasms. I laughed along at my own joke with my buds, Joe, Matthias and Kevin. I feel an immense sense of pride as a joke that I had made myself, could raise such laugher. If only I could beat Joe in a battle of pranks. I loved pranks, but Joe always beat me.
Joe held out his hand and said, "Good joke! I couldn't have hoped to do it any better."
I take his hand in a hand-shake and suddenly my hand is shocked. I yank my hand away in a mix of pain and shock and fore is closed hand open. A joy buzzer. I laugh and give my buddy and good punch in the arm. Joe is on the floor laughing and Kevin and Matthias are right beside him. I sigh in disappointment. He got me again.
He holds out his hand again and says, "Haha. You take it like a sport though." I take his hand and am shocked again. I fall back to the ground and don't get up this time. I remain still and keep my eyes closed. I can only imagine Joe's concerned face as he says, "Hey what gives? Are you alright?"
He rushes over to me and shakes me and suddenly I open my eyes and yell in his face. He yelps and falls back on his rear. While we are all laughing, I try to hide my blush. Why do I always fall for everything, I hope I don't seem naïve or stupid to everybody else. I laugh it off, but my uneasiness remains. Joe senses my uneasiness and calls for the group to go ahead to the reaping.
We all nod in agreement and head off to the town square. I squeeze Joe's shoulder in thanks and we head off to the town square.
We reach the town square and separate. Kevin and Matthias head over to the 17 year old section while Joe and I head over to the 18 year old section. Our escort Breeze Whither practically skips up to the stage.
She waves at the crowd and begins to jump up and down. Our escort from last year was demoted to District 12 for knocking the tribute from last year off stage. It was Breeze's first year and she was young and still energetic. The only plus side was that she was optimistic. She would do her best without the realization that both of her tributes would probably die. If there was a year for District 5 to win, it would be this year.
She walks up to the microphone and says, "Hello everyone! I am Breeze Whither and I am the new escort for District 5 and I am here to lead you to victory! We can do it. This is our year! This is the year for District 5! Soooooooooo, to celebrate my first year here we will mix things up. This year we will start with our big strong boys."
She walks over to the boy's bowl and pucks out a name with one sweep of her hand. She closes her eyes and whispers something, probably a prayer to the Capital. She opens it up and reads out, "Alexander Hall!"
I freeze. Was that name? Was it me? It can't be, I didn't take terrace. Joe squeezes my shoulder and pushes me forward. He whispers, "Look brave." I understand and quickly, but confidently walk up to the stage. I shake Breeze's hand and give a confident, yet shy wave to the crowd.
She leans in and whispers, "Thank you for being brave! I know you can do it!" She takes my hand and raises it, "Our male tribute Alexander Hall!"
Shine Blone- District 5 Female- 15
I watch as Alexander gives his weird little smile to the crowd. It was kind of cute, in a weird, scrawny sort of way. It's not like I would ever date him or anything, but we could get along. Anyway Breeze, skips over to the female bowl and takes more time trying to find her name.
While she is searching for apparently, the perfect name, I am thinking. There is a good chance that I might be chosen. I took terrace for myself, my mother and father and 3 of my younger sisters so I had 1...2…3… too many slips to count in my head. I don't want to be reaped, but I have kind of prepared myself for the fact that I might be reaped. I would try my best, but I would probably die. I would try to get an ally, probably seduce him and kill him. That is if everything worked out the way that it did in my head. She finally picked out a slip, that she deemed fit and she did her little prayer thing. She opened her eyes then the slip of paper and she read it out loud.
"Shine Blone!"
I stood there taking in what was about to happen. I sighed in disappointment and I heard a cry of sorrow from my younger sister Sarah in the 14 year old section. I take 2 deep breaths and walk up to the stage. I had planned it out. I would be a seductive killer so I pulled my shirt down, revealing hints about what little cleavage I had. I flicked my hair over my shoulder and walked up to the stage.
I look into the crowd and see Sarah's face. She looks confused to my new appearance, but a girl next to her, probably her friend, whispers in her ear and a look of realization emerges on her face. She grins and gives me a thumbs up and then motions towards Alexander. I nod and walk over to him. I grab his hand with one and place my other hand on his shoulder. I plant my lips on his lips and kiss him. Startled, he backs up and looks at me like I am crazy. I smile at him and give him a little wave. Then I smile at the camera and give them a little wave. Our escort giggles and says, "Our two tributes from District 5 Alexander Hall and Shine Blone!"
The crowds begin to clap, half-heartedly at of course, but a little louder than normal because their two tributes seemed like they fight a little harder this year.
Alexander and I are led into the Justice Building by our bubbly escort Breeze Whither. I am lead into a large room. It is probably twice the size of my house and probably 100 times more expensive. I stand there and suddenly Sarah runs in the room straight into my arms. She cries a little bit and buries her head in my chest. She backs up looks at me and then pulls my shirt up. We both laugh and she hugs me again. "You can do it," she says. Keep it up. What is the word Kelly used, oh yeah seduce. Are you going to seduce people and kill them?" She gives me her cute little confused look.
"Yes, I have to. I have to win, for you, and mom and dad and Barb and Joanne. I have to try to win."
She grabs my arm, "Don't try. Do it." She uses a commanding voice that I have never heard before. I give her another hug and she leaves. Next, the rest of my family comes in; my mom, dad, and two sisters, Barn and Joanne. They all give me hugs and kisses and little bits of advice, but the only piece of home that will help me win this is Sarah. Her commanding voice and her little words, "Don't try. Do it!"
Emlen Senerson- District 6 Male- 18
I swing my fist at the opposing man's jaw. It connects and sends him stumbling. He gets back up and knees me in the stomach. We are in a dance of punching, ducking and spinning around each other; the prize Sally Luo. She was the prettiest girl on the east side of District 6. She was a large girl, not overweight, but you know she had food on the plate. She was the mayor's daughter and lived in the richer part of town. I actually lived about 2 houses down from her. It was a huge coincidence that two of the richest people in District 6 were both in one of the dirtiest, poorest bars in all of the district. I guess we both knew that this was one of the best places to hook up in all of town.
My train of thought was interrupted by strong punch in the eye. I groan, that was going to leave a mark. Angry, I kneed him in the groin and punched him in the back of his head. He falls to the ground unconscious. I give a hearty laugh and walk over to Sally. She gives a sly grin and turns her head with a humph. So, she is playing hard to get I see.
I cover her eyes with my hands and she giggles. I loved the chase. She slowly turns and pulls me into kiss. As we are kissing, the other man, apparently another suitor, is awake and is currently giving me a look that tells me he wants to kill me. I didn't care. He couldn't touch me. And if he did. Correction, if he tried, I could get him arrested. My parents had influence in the district. Sally leads me into a room that is unanimously recognized as the Hook and Look room and we prepared for a night of fun before the reaping.
I wake up and give a yawn. I turn in the bed and look to see if Sally was still there. Unsurprisingly she had left earlier in the night. If I ever saw her again we would act like we never knew each other. That's just how it was. Especially between to children who were born into wealthy families.
I pack up my backpack and put on my close. I head out back into the bar and order a glass of water. I didn't need to be drunk for the reaping. This was my last reaping and if I could pass this year without getting reaped, I could get a job as a hovercraft pilot and have enough money to settle down with a family.
I finish my glass of water and walk out the door. An old train station, still operational, is conveniently located right outside the bar. It ride it all the way to the town square where the scenery drastically changes. Instead of the worn down buildings that District 6 normally consists of, the town square features pristine new buildings and models of trains and hovercrafts that only Capitolites have the opportunity of riding. I make my way to the 18 old section on my own. My mom is probably too busy with her work to realize that it is even reaping day and my father, who suffers from extreme stomach pains is probably still in his bed, hoping for the hour a day that he might feel okay. We were one of the richest families in District 6 and yet, we still could not afford the medicine needed to cure him.
I don't even pay attention to the escort as she rambles on, on about whatever escorts talk about. I try my best to ignore the kid next to me who keeps poking me and telling me to pay attention. He is probably from one of the loyalist families who invented the hover-bike. As I am trying not to punch this kid's face in, I hear, "Emlen Senerson, are you there?"
I finally start to listen to the kid who was poking me and I realize that he is saying, "Your name was called. Go up! You got chosen!" I am confused at first, then irritated.
As I walk up to the stage my irritation grows as I realize that I will probably die and that I have to go all the way to the Capital. What a bother. But, if I won I could buy the medicine for my dad. I can fight really well. Maybe if I got some brass knuckles or something. Tired of waiting for me our escort marches right up to me and drags me up to stage. For a lady with such a small frame, she has one tight grip.
She shoves me to the edge of the stage where she announces my name. She hisses for me to follow her. I didn't care what she thought. I didn't care what anybody thought.
Ruth Cargo- District 6 Female- 14
I stand in the 14 year old section of the town square and listen to the boy who, from all I can tell, will not be getting any sponsors. I am blind. I have been blind from birth. My parents died in a train wreck when I was 5 and the orphanage wouldn't take me in because they thought I would be too much trouble. So I was one my own from the age of 5. I taught myself to fight off people, mainly men, which would otherwise hurt me.
At the age of 7 I began to dance at a local bar to get a little bit of money. At first I was an opener, but now I was the star. I would flip around the bar and flirt with customers, at the same time taking a little bit of money for "tips." I began to make more and more money to the point where at the age of 10 I could have afforded a small house.
Of course, in District 6 you had to be 15 to be an "adult" and therefore buy a houses. Not many did, but they could. In one year I could buy my own house. Right now I was living in the alley next to the bar I worked at. I have plenty of food, and if no one is there I can sleep in the bar.
Anyway, our escort Donny Traine, walks across the stage, to what I can assume is the girl's bowl. I hear a swishing sound and she calls out, "Ruth Cargo!"
I stand there for a moment and sighed. Just when I thought everything was figured out, I had to be reaped. I hear loud 'boos' as people begin to see a blind girl walk up to stage. Some people try to assist me, but I confidently walk up to the stage on my lonesome. The shouts of fury get louder, as more people notice my eyes. People begin to press closer against the stage and Peacekeepers begin to start pounding the rioters with their nightsticks. People everywhere are shouting and I do the only thing I can do, dance.
I do a couple flips and I spin around the stage with my escort. I walk to the edge of the stage where people gasp as I teeter. Instead I lean back and poke a man on the nose. The crowd is still angry, but less so as they see I am not helpless. The escort announces our names and leads me into the justice building. If I could see I would probably close my eyes as the man I poked is shot in front of the crowd.
Karter Whalen- District 7 Male- 17
I sit in the Mayor's office wondering why I was called here. I hope I wasn't here for long. I still had to check up on mom to make sure she was okay. Sure, dad was there to help her, but I needed to check on her myself. She hadn't been the same since Mathew died. If only he had listened to the old saying. "A tree will fall where she leans." Mom was never the same again. It was really sad. She used to be such an energetic, and loving woman and now she just stared into space and was lost in fits of screams.
Mayor Birch walks into the office and sits in the wood chair across from me. He was a big man. He was built like an ox and could probably carry one to. "Well hello Mr. Whalen? How are we doing today?"
I don't have time for pleasantries so I just stare at him. He chuckles. "So you want to cut to the chase do you? I like that! You would make a good man someday."
I frown at the word "would." He seems to catch on to this and says, "Yes. Would. You see I am aware that you are friends with my son Duke. Duke is a strong boy and wants nothing less than fame and fortune and the only way to get that nowadays is to become a victor." He says the last would with a wave of his hand. He continues, "Duke has been training for the Hunger Games since he was 12 and is planning on volunteering this year. I have tried to talk him out of this you see, but he is a very stubborn boy. He took after his mother. Unfortunately he might fall like his mother too. You see I can't have Duke going into the Hunger Games, so I need someone else to."
My frown deepens as I guess his implications. He calmly resumes. "I have rigged the reaping bowl so that Duke's name will be called. He will think that it is fate or that one of the forest gods of old has summoned him for the call, but he will not go into the games; you will."
I stand up in fury as I realize what he wants. "I will not volunteer. I will not play your little game. If Duke is reaped he is going into the Games. I don't care what you want, you sick weed, but I am staying right here in District 7 and you can't change that!" I finish my rant as Mayor Birch finishes a glass of water.
He looks at me and says very calmly. "I can see you are a blunt man Karter, so I will follow suit. Volunteer for Duke or I will kill your family." He pauses. "You are dismissed."
He walks out of the room leaving me to myself to think.
I am in the town square with my friends Keaton and Duke. After my visit with the Mayor I have had a lot of time open up to think. I didn't go to work and I didn't even talk to Keaton which I do almost every day. All I have done is think and I have made up my mind.
As we listen to our escort drone on, Duke is back to bragging. "I am going to volunteer this year and I am going to kick butt. I am joining the careers and I am going to become victor. Make sure to sponsor me, okay?" He goes on talking without a response and Keaton looks at me.
"What's up?"
"Nothing," I say.
"That's, horse crap. "You always stop frowning when you are upset."
I frown again, "I'll tell you later." If only he knew how soon.
Our escort chose a girl named Chelsea Halliday for the girls. She barely makes it up to the stage due to her sobs. I hear a guy behind me, give a sneer of disgust and he begins mumbling something about something being "over" I don't even know her. She probably lived in another sector. In District 7, you lived in one of 5 sectors, which each supplied a different type of wood; oak, pine, redwood, birch or maple. I lived in the pine sector. From her clothes I would guess that she lived in the redwood section.
Our escort has another slip in her hand. I must have missed her pick a name. She reads in out. "Duke Birch."
I look over at Duke who is smiling in a shocked sort of way. He begins to walk up to the stage, when I take in a deep breath and call out the sacred words I never thought I would say. "I volunteer as tribute!"
Duke spins around only to find me walking past of. I feel Duke's glare as I walked up to the stage. This was his last year to volunteer and I took it. He will never forgive me. He looks up to me and whispers three simple, but powerful words, "I hate you." With that he walks off and I see the Mayor's smug look wipe humiliation all over my face.
Chelsea Halliday- District 7 Female- 16
I sit in the waiting room, sobbing. I convulse on the floor as spasms rock my body. Why me?! Why was I reaped? I choke out another sob. I am going to die. I will never see the beautiful redwood forests again. I will die looking at a red blade or blood-stained teeth. Why me?! My chances of being picked were like a million to one.
I am still on the floor when my family comes in. My mother and step-father Steve are the first to walk in. My mother comes up and whispers in my ear, "I love you. I love you. I love you. I am so sorry this happened to you. I believe you can do it though. I love you so why can't someone else? You can do it!"
My mother is also a wreck beside me and my stepdad walks up. "Shhhhh, Lucy, calm down. I got this." He walks up to me and strokes my hair. "Hey kiddo. So this sucks." I laugh. He does too.
He continues. "But I think you can do this. I won't be there for the next few weeks so I need you to find someone that will. Make sure you can trust him. Hey look at me!" I look back at him. He wags his finger as he says the last part, "No careers."
"But," I say.
"No," he says firmly. "I forbid it. I don't care how nice they seem, but I refuse to watch you be betrayed by a bloodthirsty 2 or a devious 1. Do you understand?"
My sobs finally come to a stop. "Yes daddy!"
He hugs me again. "I will always love you, my beautiful little girl.
Both of my parents walk out and my two sisters and my new baby brother come in next. We just hug and I take advice from each sister. Wisdom, from Christine and knowledge fom Carly. I kiss my baby brother for the last time and both of them walk out.
My next visitor takes a little longer to get here. By this point I am no longer on the floor. I have situated myself in a chair and my breathing is no longer irregular. My boyfriend Grant Oaks walks in next.
I rush to give him a hug, but he stops with his hand, "Grant, but why?" I ask in a quivering voice.
He snorts, which pulls a whimper out of me. "You really are a wuss. Crying like that. There is no way you will ever win, so I just came to tell you that this is over."
I pause, then I start sniffling and crying. "Grant, you don't mean it. I love y…"
"Stop," he interrupts me. "I mean it."
I try to cling on to his arm, "Grant! Please!" He pushes me to the floor and I am left in the room all to myself with no one to hear my cries but the walls.
Paisley Sparks- District 8 Female- 18
"That's good baby, now pose. Oh yes that's good. Pose again. Rock that dress girl." A Capital photographer coached me through a photo shoot as I modeled for a new line of my mother's clothes.
Mother was the best designer in all of the Capital right now. Her name was known throughout the districts. She took the fabrics of District 8 and turned them into fashion trends that could last months in the Capital. I am her best model and I was on this year's cover of Trendsetter Magazine in the Capital. I make trips almost every 3 months and every 3 months I dye my hair a different color. At age 10 I was given the name, "Rainbow" and I don't want to disappoint. This trip I had a striking violet to match my mother's newest trend in scarfs.
My photographer decides to take a break for the reapings. He gives me 3 hours. Like the reaping was going to last three hours. But for the past 2 years I have convinced many of my fans to sponsor district 8. As the best district we ought to have more than 2 living victors. In total District 8 had 5 victories to their name. Cecilia and Woof died in the 75th Hunger Games and we had an old victor die two years before that. Anyway, it was my goal to bring District 8 to the top.
I change into a simple outfit; a pair of white jeans with a stunning black blouse and a cashmere scarf. Nothing too fancy. I walk out of the photoshoot building and decide that I am going to walk to town square. After all, should the District have the honor of looking at me? I would love to watch myself. The thought almost brings a tear to my eye. I don't cry of course. That would ruin my makeup.
I walk a whole block all the way to the town square where a crowd of children are already standing. The only thing I don't like about the reaping is how unappreciative everyone is. I never get asked for autographs and I always have to stand with the rest of the girls my age; like I am normal or something. They always get dirt on my outfit and everyone is always frowning. Today was a happy occasion.
Anyways, I get in the big, marked off area for 18 year olds and stand near the front so I can see the escort. Her name was Silk Blouse and she was always a pleasure to talk to. She give me a little wave and she gives a delightful speech about the Capital and how we should be honored to participate in the 99th Annual Hunger Games. I can't wait to see who I would sponsor.
She walks over to the girls bowl and puts her hand in. She swishes around for a bit and finally plucks out a name. She opens the slip and reads it out loud.
"Paisley Sparks!" She squeals with delight and I hear many of the cameramen give whoops of pleasure. I pause for a second, comprehending what just happened.
My confusion is quickly replaced by immense delight. If anyone deserved the popularity and honor of going to the Capital, it would be me. I am sure I will have plenty of sponsors. I can't wait for the interviews, and the Chariot ride and off course the fans. Oh, how I loved my fans.
I walk up to the stage and take Silk's outstretched hand. I grab her microphone and give a speech. "I Paisley Sparks am honored to by Districts 8's female tribute. I am immensely happy that all of you are here to see me win and I know that I will raise District 8 to the top top top. Whoooooooooo!"
What a blessing I am to the world!
Thread Simmers- District 8 Male- 12
I watch as the silly girl with the purple hair on stage walks away from the microphone. She is still jumping up and down. I don't understand why she is so happy. When my sister went up to the stage, she never came back. I miss Lucy. She is the one who gave me my stick.
She made me a metal stick that she said I should take everywhere. I was holding on to it now. She said because I had so big muscles, that I should hold on to it so I don't make an oopsie. I made a lot of oopsies. Almost every day at school I would pull a door knob or accidently put down the toilet seat too hard. It wasn't my fault. Everything broke too easily.
Lucy told me that I was so strong because some of the Capital people gave me a special potion that made my muscles big. It is cool, but it makes me make a lot of oopsies. She said when I was older I could lift anything I wanted and move them around without making any oopsies.
The silk lady goes over to the other bowl and pulls out a piece of paper. She opens it and reads it.
"Thread Simmers!" Hey that was my name. I hear a lot of people make loud noise as I go to the silk lady. She gives me a smile and I grab her hand. She tells me to stand right beside the purple girl so I do. Everyone doesn't clap like normal. I wonder why.
A lot of things are weird today.
Hey guys this is AaronIris with another chapter. Sorry for the late update. I discovered a typo in my last chapter. I said I was on vacation and I would have more time to wright. I meant, less time to write. Well I am going to a family trip all of next week and depending on how that goes I may or may not have a lot of time to write. I will definitely try to get some in. I have had a lot of great reviews. I will address some of them now. A lot of you either loved or hated Cerulean. Her section was very vague and that was for a purpose. Throughout the story I will go more into depth with her backstory. I received several reviews and PM's asking for more personality and I tried to deliver.
We only have one more reapings chapter and I was informed that Dana Woodman of District 12 is a repeat tribute. I believe this to be an insult to the writer him/herself. Each character needs to be unique and this character has broken that. Therefore are new female tribute from District 12 was the backup and is Malia Crosswire. (16)
Now that I am done with the rant here are my questions.
Who was your favorite tribute?
Who was your least favorite tribute?
Which tribute showed the most potential?
Which tribute showed the least potential?
How can I improve as a writer? (critiques welcome)
